‘A huge shock to the system': Mass. arts and culture leaders react to Trump order to pause federal funding
Sebastian Belfanti, director of the West End Museum, which suffered severe water damage in 2022.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
In his first nine days in office, Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders aimed at reversing progressive policies on immigration; the environment; transgender rights; and diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI — areas that are commonly addressed through arts programming in Massachusetts.
'I'm not shocked that something like this is coming,' Belfanti said, regarding the funding freeze. 'Do I think that our project is probably going to get killed? Yeah, of course.'
The proposed pause includes federal agencies like the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) — three prominent funders of local arts and culture nonprofits.
According to data from the most recently available fiscal years, NEA promised
Advertisement
The new administration's stance is in contrast to the Biden White House, which encouraged funding art that shared 'the stories of those in underrepresented communities,' said Emily Ruddock, executive director of
It's not just nonprofit arts organizations that are in a holding pattern. State agencies, like the
'Like all who receive federal funding, Mass Cultural Council is troubled by today's announcement and is actively seeking to learn and understand what steps may follow this decision,' Michael J. Bobbitt, the agency's executive director, said in a statement on Tuesday. 'While details are still emerging, we caution a long-term freeze in federal grant-making will significantly and negatively impact many in the Commonwealth's cultural sector.'
Michael Bobbitt, executive director of the Mass Cultural Council, photographed in Roxbury before a tour of the OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center at Forest Hills.
Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe
Grace Kennerly, executive director of the Jamaica Plain chamber orchestra
Historically, a large portion
Advertisement
the Boston-based chorus and period instrument orchestra, was recently announced as a 2025 NEA grantee to the tune of $40,000 to help finance performances of 'Crossing the Deep,' a choral drama based on the history of the Atlantic slave trade during the time of one of the orchestra's namesakes, 18th-century composer George Frideric Handel.
Spoken-word artist Regie Gibson performing in "Crossing the Deep" with the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Anthony Trecek-King.
Sam Brewer
'Any disruption to funding for the arts is concerning and destabilizing,' said H+H CEO David Snead in a statement. 'The potential loss of $40,000 from NEA to produce
'Crossing the Deep' limits our ability to provide Boston audiences with programming that connects us all with our shared humanity. When public funding is uncertain, we are forced to fill that gap with private contributions. We are monitoring the situation and hope this funding pause is just that.'
Bobbitt of Mass Cultural Council is optimistic arts funding will be sustained. 'We are hopeful the Trump Administration's review of federal spending will be expeditious and any and all previously committed funds are delivered without long delay,' he said.
But Trump's track record on arts funding hints toward a different outcome. In every year of the president's first term, he proposed a federal budget that
'The zeroing out of the NEA felt largely symbolic from the Trump administration. However, that was under a different Congress,' said Ruddock. 'It's very hard to be able to estimate what the next moves will be.'
Advertisement
Julian E.J. Sorapuru is an Arts Reporter at the Globe and can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fewer than 1 in 4 Colorado voters support Medicaid cuts
(Stock photo by) Just 21% of Colorado voters want Congress to decrease Medicaid spending, according to a poll released Tuesday. Concerns about gutted health care access come as U.S. Senate Republican leaders work to push through a tax and spending bill that would cut Medicaid by an estimated $625 billion over the next decade. The poll zeroed in on the 8th Congressional District, which includes the northern Denver metro area and parts of Weld County. In the district, where 1 in 4 residents receive Medicaid benefits, 63% of voters said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate who voted to cut Medicaid. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The 8th District is represented by Republican Gabe Evans, who voted in favor of the plan that would reduce federal Medicaid spending when it was brought to the U.S. House of Representatives in May. A spokesperson for Evans defended the vote, saying a proposed provision to institute part-time work requirements for some people to retain Medicaid eligibility would make 'the program more efficient by cutting out fraud, waste, and abuse.' 'Congressman Gabe Evans has been steadfast in his support of protecting Medicaid for the vulnerable populations it was created to serve — pregnant women, kids, and disabled people,' said spokesperson Delanie Bomar in a statement Tuesday. Evans, who was elected to the House last year, represents one of the country's few congressional swing districts. According to the poll, 42% of voters in the district want to see increased federal Medicaid spending, 20% want it to stay about the same and 28% want it to decrease. Medicaid, the state-federal health care program for lower-income people and some with disabilities, serves more than 70 million U.S. residents. The poll of 675 registered Colorado voters was conducted by Broomfield-based firm Magellan Strategies on behalf of the nonprofit Healthier Colorado. It has a margin of error of 3.7%. 'Politicians are saying that they want to cut Medicaid to make it better, but the poll shows clearly that voters aren't buying what they're selling,' said Jake Williams, CEO of Healthier Colorado. 'It shows that there's real political peril for any candidate who votes to cut Medicaid.' Bomar pointed to the poll's findings that many respondents, especially those who are Republicans or unaffiliated, said Medicaid 'should only be for U.S. citizens or legal residents, with some calling for stricter eligibility enforcement.' Immigrants who are in the U.S. unlawfully are not eligible for federal Medicaid benefits, but Colorado and 13 other states provide some state-funded coverage to immigrants lacking permanent legal status. Under the proposed federal cuts, an estimated 7.8 million people, most of them citizens or lawful residents, would lose access to Medicaid, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Some of the main reasons cited in the poll by respondents who said they have favorable opinions of Medicaid are the benefits it provides to low-income Coloradans, seniors, children, people with disabilities and single parents. 'The poll shows that Medicaid cuts would have devastating effects for both our health and economy here in Colorado,' Williams said. 'I also think it shows that Colorado voters aren't dummies.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
SBC reassert opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, seek repeal of historic same-sex marriage ruling
DALLAS − The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution supporting a concerted effort to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges as the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage approaches its 10-year anniversary. The June 10 vote by the nation's largest Protestant denomination at its annual legislative assembly in Dallas is another step in the evangelical Christian group's focus on opposing LGBTQ+ rights. That intensified focus is a shift from abortion, which was long the fixation of SBC resolutions prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The 2022 overturning of Roe emboldened many within the Nashville-based SBC to then hope for the same with the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage. Resolutions are non-binding statements expressing the convention's views on social and cultural issues. Other resolutions at past SBC annual meetings have reasserted Southern Baptist opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, though this year's resolution was the most forceful articulation of their rebuke of the Supreme Court precedent protecting same-sex marriage. 'Legal rulings like Obergefell v. Hodges and policies that deny the biological reality of male and female are legal fictions, undermine the truth of God's design, and lead to social confusion and injustice,' the resolution said. Southern Baptist delegates, called messengers, overwhelmingly approved the measure. Whether the latest vote will move the needle on gay marriage remains to be seen. Last year, the SBC passed a resolution condemning the use of in-vitro fertilization, only to see President Donald Trump sign an executive order earlier this year seeking to protect IVF access and reduce its out-of-pocket and health plan costs. Reversing the Obergefell ruling is one of numerous issues related to sex, gender and marriage encompassed by the resolution. Among other things, the resolution affirms that there are only two genders, defines marriage as between a man and a woman, says families are designed for procreation and that human life is sacred 'from conception to natural death.' A strongly traditionalist voice in the SBC, Denny Burk, proposed the language in the resolution that messengers ultimately approved. Burk is the president of Louisville-based Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, an advocacy group that was behind two well-known, cross-evangelical statements opposing LGBTQ+ rights. The first statement was the Danvers Statement in 1987 and the second was the Nashville Statement in 2017. 'It is sinful to approve of homosexual immorality or transgenderism and that such approval constitutes an essential departure from Christian faithfulness and witness,' the Nashville Statement said, which stirred widespread local controversy upon ratification. 'Approval of homosexual immorality or transgenderism is a matter of moral indifference about which otherwise faithful Christians should agree to disagree.' The new resolution approved by the SBC is another iteration of the Nashville Statement, but more forcefully attacks the U.S. jurisprudence protecting the LGBTQ+ rights that evangelicals oppose. Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at ladams@ or on social media @liamsadams. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Southern Baptists call for repeal of historic same-sex marriage ruling
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
David Byrne brings world tour to Seattle's Paramount Theatre
The Brief David Byrne, the former front man of Talking Heads, will perform at Seattle's Paramount Theatre this fall as part of his upcoming world tour. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 13, with presale access available through June 12. The tour supports Byrne's 11th solo album, Who is the Sky? SEATTLE - David Byrne announced his world tour will visit Seattle this fall, along with his new album, Who is the Sky? Keep reading to learn more about the show, ticket information and more about David Byrne. David Byrne will take the stage for two nights at Seattle's Paramount Theatre on November 11 and 12, 2025. It will mark his first time performing in Seattle since 2018. His world tour kicks off in September in the U.S. and goes international starting in January 2026. The band will feature 13 musicians, singers and dancers, with many members returning from the American Utopia band. Tickets will be available to purchase on Friday, June 13, and can be found on David Byrne's website. Eager fans can also sign up for Byrne's presale now through June 12 at 10 p.m. PT. The new album, set to release on Sept. 5, was produced by the Grammy-winning Kid Harpoon, who has worked with other modern hit performers like Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus. It features 12 songs that were arranged by Ghost Train Orchestra, a New York-based chamber ensemble. Byrne noted that the album will have "more story songs than usual." In addition, Byrne released his new single "Everybody Laughs," on June 10, which will make an appearance on the new album. The song was accompanied with a music video directed by Gabriel Barcia-Colombo. What they're saying "It took me a second to realize, oh yeah, these songs are personal, but with David's unique perspective on life in general," said Kid Harpoon (also known as Tom Hull). "Walking around New York listening to the demo of 'Everybody Laughs' was so joyous, because it made me feel like we're all the same – we all laugh, cry and sing. The thing about David that resonates with a lot of people is that he's in on the joke. He gets the absurdity of it all, and all of these personal observations are his perspective on it." David Byrne is an American musician and songwriter known for being the lead singer of Talking Heads. Some of the group's biggest hits are "Psycho Killer" and "Once in a Lifetime". When the new wave band went on hiatus, Byrne transitioned to a solo career in 1989. In total, the singer has released ten solo albums, with Who Is the Sky? set to be his 11th release. The 73-year-old has been making music for more than 50 years. The Source Information in this story comes from David Byrne's website. Travis Decker manhunt: 'Remote' areas of 5 WA counties told to lock doors Former Army squadmate shares insight into Travis Decker's military past Miles Hudson found guilty on 2 counts of reckless driving in Seattle Key figures from Bryan Kohberger's youth summoned to Idaho for student murders trial Rochester dog training facility owner accused of killing employee during video shoot To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
